Outdoor cats pose a very real threat to birds and other wildlife. This page collects information and articles that detail this concern and ASNV’s efforts to confront it.
Video: Surviving the Wild: Cats & Birds
Click here to view a video from the American Bird Conservancy that discusses the danger that outdoor domestic cats pose to native wildlife, especially birds.
Report of the Free-Roaming Cat Stakeholder Workgroup, January 16, 2023
Fourteen members of a Virginia General Assembly workgroup appointed in 2021 to study problems associated with free-roaming cats have just released a comprehensive report detailing the negative impact of cats on wildlife and public health and recommending legislative solutions. Click here to read the report.
ASNV Adopts Policy on Free-Roaming Cats
ASNV has adopted a policy statement urging Fairfax County to implement measures that would help to reduce the huge number of birds that are killed each year by free-roaming cats. The proposed measures include requiring cats to be treated more like dogs by being licensed and physically restricted when off the property of their owners and taking proactive measures to reduce the numbers of unowned cats in the county.
For more information and background on this policy, please read this document.